


A La Carte

by lashworthe, Miss_blue664



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Children, Established Relationship, Family, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2018-12-31 01:29:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12121569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lashworthe/pseuds/lashworthe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_blue664/pseuds/Miss_blue664
Summary: Loki is a single father trying to recover from his devastating divorce. With a new job, and an attentive boyfriend things seem to be turning around, but ghosts from his past are never far from his doorstep.--This story is based off a long running RP between myself and lashworthe. So she gets equal credit in this little brain child of a story.





	1. Appetizer

It was Loki's first night at his new job, and he was nervous. For a while, everything had seemed to be spinning out of control. His personal life had gone to hell, his wife had turned into someone he didn't even recognize, and only during the divorce proceedings had he found that she had, in several drug hazes, gone through every bit of money they had, destroyed their credit and left them with nothing. Their home, cars, everything was repossessed, and even that didn't pay off everything.

The destruction of their credit had cost Loki his job, and, the bankruptcy had left a blemish on his credit record so dark that no traditional 9 to 5 job like he'd had would take him on. In desperation he had finally swallowed his pride and looked into being a server. One of the largest, best, and most expensive restaurants in town had an opening and Loki had managed to interview and get the job, and tonight was his first official night on the job.

He smoothed out his uniform once more before going out to tell his children goodnight.

"Now, Fenrir is in charge until I get home. Bed by 9 and I will see you all in the morning." He gently kissed each of his children on the head.

"When will you be home?" Fenrir asked, looking up from his video game.

"Late. I told you, I have to work until the restaurant is closed. Do not wait up for me Fenrir."

"Papa!" his youngest whined, clinging to his legs. "Helena.. let Papa go to work.." The eldest of his three came over and pulled his sister off their father.

Loki leaned down again to kiss his daughter's head, smiling softly at Fenrir.

"Please, Helena, listen to Fenrir. Dinner is already made, just put it in the oven for 30 minutes, I'll be home before any of you know it."

He grabbed his jacket and eased it out of the door, adding as the door shut behind him, "Good night, I love you all."

He trotted down the stairs from their apartment to make the several block walk to the restaurant. It was cold, but there was no money for a car, or for bus fare. There was no money for anything, even food was a challenge to afford. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on the positives. 

As he walked he thought about Tony, he wondered what his paramour was up to tonight, and restrained himself from texting the brunette. After some hesitation and heavy consideration, that he had even decided to beginning seeing Tony semi-regularly. Tony seemed to be a very sweet and kind man, and Loki enjoyed their time together. He was taking things fairly slowly, hesitant to mention or introduce Tony to the kids, and telling the children very little about Tony at all, not even his name. Tony didn't seem very fond of children, and that made Loki nervous so he kept his mouth shut about his children. 

But otherwise Loki was very fond of Tony. He made Loki feel like a giddy teenager, and at times, they both acted like hormonal, horny teenagers. Though Loki had refrained from having sex with Tony, (he didn't quite feel ready for that yet) that hadn't stopped he and the other man from becoming well acquainted with each others body, usually barely able to keep their hands off of each other and spending most of their dates making out. It was a bit of a rush to be wanted again, to feel desirable again. The crumbling of his marriage had left Loki's self-esteem in the pits, and he was only now beginning to feel like something more than a failure. 

He paused outside of the restaurant, taking a few deep breaths before heading inside. His pale cheeks and nose red from the chill outside. He shivered into the warmth of the restaurant. He shook a few glimmers of snow from his coat and cleared his throat, "Ah....Mr. Stark?"

Three sets of eyes turned up to greet Loki, one pair he was intimately familiar with, Tony, the other two, judging from the familial appearance related to Tony.

The other man's face bloomed into one of a welcoming smile, "Ah! Mr. Ruser! Good to see you again."

Loki was trying to not stare at Tony, and he definitely hoped that the elder didn't notice his slight paling at seeing Tony.  Loki shook hands with Howard, "Mr. Stark, good evening. I suppose I'll be training tonight, is there anyone that will be training me? Perhaps I should meet them?"

"I will be, and we'll have a quick meeting at 4:45 with the rest of the staff so you can meet them then."

The woman stood, "Have you eaten yet?"

"Oh... no, but I'm fine.." he smiled sheepish and she tsk'd and pushed Loki into the seat she's just abandoned, "Non sense, you look like you haven't eaten in days, you sit here and Tony will fix you up something, there's always one meal on the house here."

Howard nodded, "Besides, you can't sell the food if you've never eaten it."

Loki tried not to feel shell shocked, but here he was mouth open trying to find a polite turn down, when he could find nothing he nodded, "Tony... what ever you think is best... I trust you." 

Tony smirked at the comment, but kept everything distant, "Smoked Salmon over a bed of yellow rice with asparagus, how's that sounds? It's the house special."

"Sounds amazing."

Maria patted Loki's shoulders and kissed Tony and Howard's cheeks, "Good night boys, be good, and good luck!"

Tony headed to the kitchen, and when Loki turned back to the table Howard was there talking to him. he barely realized the time pass as Howard was walking him through his expectations of how he wanted Loki to be with customers. There was a moment when the spell was broken when a dish was set down in front of him. The smells were tantalizing, and he felt his stomach lurch in anticipation.

"Oh.. this smells amazing."

"Well... tell me what you think?"

Tony stood off on the side, and slowly Loki ate, and moaned softly, "Oh... god Tony, this is amazing... thank you... this is ... amazing."

Tony was beaming and Howard finally had to swat his son with a dish rag, "Get out of here you egotistical prig! Go get the kitchen staff ready!"

"Ow! Alright! Alright, I'm going."

Loki found himself eating quickly, enjoying the first real meal in a few days, he hadn't eaten in a few days in order to make sure his children were fed, and the meals he did get were when Loki and Tony had gone out. He found himself more focused on the meal and didn't hear much of what Howard said. Howard finally left him, "when you're done eating, put your dishes in the sink and meet me by the front bar."

Loki nodded and continued to eat, when he finished and was resisting the urge to lick the plate clean. He sighed and finally stood and went further into the kitchen, "The dishes go here?"

Tony's head popped head out from under a hood, "Yup that's the place."

He smiled, "Good, that was wonderful Tony."

"Thanks, I've been wanting to cook for you for a while, just... we seem to keep missing each other."

Loki fiddled with a fork, "Well all you had to do was ask."

"I have, but we seem to keep missing each other, and you always decline when I ask you to come over for dinner."

"It... it's hard to get out in the evening. You could cook lunch or breakfast too."

"Yeah, but those don't have the same kind of ambiance I'm trying to go for," he looked over his shoulder back towards the front of the restaurant and then added, "And I'll be a good boy I swear, dad wont know anything." 

Loki offered a smile, "I trust you Tony."

Tony went to open his mouth, but Howard's thunderous voice ricocheted around the kitchen, "Anthony Edward Stark!"

Tony twitched, "Jesus fuck dad, I'm 35, not 15, can you please STOP doing that!"

As the two men bickered, a lithe blonde walked up beside Loki, "You must be the new guy Mr. Stark was telling us about."

Loki jumped faintly but offered an easy smile as she realized her posture was open and welcoming, "Yes.. that would be me. I'm Loki, you are?"

"Mikel," she guided Loki out of the kitchen and towards the front, "Don't worry about them, they're always yelling at each other, I think it's one of those dysfunctional, functional family things."

Loki laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."

After a few moments Howard and Tony joined the wait staff in the front, Howard talked about what to expect with the days crowds, and then Tony covered the house specials and a few notes he wanted to cover about the regular menu. With a clap, Howard said enthusiastically, "Alright people, lets go out there and have a good night, we've already got customers at the door. Loki, you're with me."

Loki nodded and joined the older Stark accepting a note book he provided. Together they worked the floor, and eventually Howard let Loki work the last two hours of the night by himself. The elder Stark clapping his new employee on the shoulder, "You're doing great, the customers love you, if you need anything I'll be in the kitchen."

"Thank you Mr. Stark."

"Keep it up."

Loki smiled thankfully and moved through the night with skill and ease. Right as door closed to the customers, Howard bid everyone good night, and left Tony to close everything up. Once the last customers were out of the restaurant Loki joined the rest of the staff with cleaning up, wiping up tables, busing dishes to the kitchen, and general cleaning tasks. Almost 45 minutes later Tony stuck his head out of the office door calling out, "Alright folks, come get your tips!"

Then he called each staff member by their name, and Loki just smiled a small secretive smile as Tony saved his name for last. He bid Mikel goodnight as she walked from the store and then slipped into the office.

He met Tony's smile and leaned against the desk as tony asked, "So, how was your first night?"

"Busy, but I like it, the staff is friendly."

"Yeah, good, as much as Dad can be a grouch, he's good at HR, always picks good eggs to work here. Also, you're tips."

Loki took the small collection of bills and tucked it into his pockets, "You run a well managed restaurant."

Tony laughed, "Thanks, learned from the best, I practically lived here since I could walk."

"It shows," he pushed off the desk and back to his feet, "Well, I should be getting home."

Tony reached out and grabbed his hand, "Hey, when are you working?"

"Hum?" he had to fish around for his phone to find his schedule, "I am working 4 days, counting tonight, Tomorrow, Friday and Sunday."

"I'm not working until dinner tomorrow, want to get lunch tomorrow?"

Loki considered before nodding, "Yes, I can do that. Where would you like to meet."

"My place? I'll cook."

A small laugh escaped, "You really want to cook before you have to coming into work and cook?"

"Surprise! I actually like my job." Tony was smiling with excitement, "If I could spend all day in a kitchen I would, and if I get to cook for people I like? Talk about icing on the cake!"

Loki laughed to himself as Tony stood and locked up the safe and pulled on his jacket, "Well then we will have lunch."

"Perfect." Tony leaned in and place a soft, chaste kiss to Loki's cheek, "Until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Loki promised and went to grab his jacket and headed out to make the long walk home.

* * *

 

The scene Loki walked into was, was not what he had anticipate upon getting home. His eldest was trying to drag his youngest to her bedroom, and his middle was sitting on the couch reading.

"NO! I wanted to wait for papa!"

"Helena! You have to go bed!"

As soon as everyone registered that he was home, Helena wiggled from Fenrir's grip and tackled his shins. He sighed, "Helena, bed was two hours ago."

"I wanted to wait for you."

"Darling, you can't do this, you have school tomorrow."

"But I wanted you to kiss me goodnight."

He picked his daughter up and walked her to her room, he tucked her in bed and kissed her forehead, "Sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

She gave him a kiss in return and with lights out, she was quickly passed out. He exited her room to find his two sons climbing into bed, he followed after them to kiss them both goodnight as well. As he sat on his eldest's bed the boy started to apologize. Loki hushed him, "Sleep Fenrir, I'm not mad. Thank you for your help."

The mollified the boy who relaxed as Loki stood, "Goodnight papa."

"Good night Fenrir, Jeorge, sleep well." he leaned over to kiss his middle child who gave a soft yawn and hugged his neck before rolling over to sleep.

Loki backed out of the shared room and turned off the lights, he closed the door and found himself sighing and resting his head against the door. Things had to get better.. at least now he had a job. As long as he didn't handsy with Tony, or Tony with him, there wouldn't be any reason Howard would want to fire him. He could start saving up, maybe afford a car, but... he still had to pay all those bills. He turned to go his room and went to shower before flopping in bed. And for the first time in a few weeks, the stress of his situation didn't keep him awake.


	2. Salad

Loki was up just as early as his kids, and everyone moved sluggishly, the previous night  he helped Helena dress and while she ate breakfast he worked on getting lunches prepared for the three. Which was just leftovers from the previous night's dinner. Once the lunches were assembled, they all looked at the clock and there was a mild panic as they all rushed from the apartment to make it to the busses. Loki kissed each child on the head as they headed onto the bus. Then he watched until the bus was out of sight before turning back to his apartment. There was an attempt to be productive, but the moment he sat down sleep claimed him. 

It would have been a wonderful nap if he didn’t wake in a panic at 11:30, late to getting to Tony’s. He grabbed his coat and keys and all but sprinted out the door. He hated being late. He shot a quick text to Tony, ‘running a little late be there soon.’ He walked as quickly as he could and when he came to the door took a minute to catch his breath before knocking. There was barely a delay before the door yanked open and there was Tony, dressed in a nice shirt and slacks with a warm smile that radiated from his being. 

A smile was drawn from Loki’s lips, “Hi.” 

“Hey! Come in!” Tony stepped aside to let Loki in. As the taller male walked in Tony closed the door and then leaned in to kiss him, “Jesus, your nose is freezing. So… what are your thoughts on Soup?”

“Anything you make will be fantastic.” he teasingly leaned in and pressed his nose to Tony’s neck, which made the brunette jump and gasp. Tony rubbed his neck as he said, “Well I think the weather and your nose demands something warm.” 

“Maybe,” he bit his lip, “...do you have any coffee?”

Tony leaned back from him with a playfully suspicious look on his face, “Who are you and what have you done with my boy friend?” 

Loki didn’t get to respond before Tony tugged him into the kitchen, “Come on, pick out your bean.” 

Loki swatted Tony’s ass playfully before leaning against Tony, “Any bean that will keep me awake.” 

Tony moved with ease into making the dark beverage, even with Loki leaning against him, “Didn’t sleep well I take it?”

“Yeah.. it was a rough nice and morning.” 

Tony rubbed his back and kissed his forehead, “It’ll get easier.” They continued to stand at the counter as they waited for the coffee to brew, Tony’s hands rubbing soothing circled on Loki’s back as Loki stayed tucked against his side, head against his shoulder. When the coffee was done, Tony poured Loki a cup in a ‘world's best cook’ mug. “You want Creamer or sugar?”

“Both in large quantities.”

Tony had to duck out from under Loki’s embrace as he moved his pantry letting his boyfriend add what he wanted to his coffee, “You want a chicken broth or a beef broth?” 

Loki winced at the taste of the coffee, even with the sugar and creamer it was still bitter, “Chicken.” He was savoring the warmth of the drink in his hands as he watched a very nice ass stick out of a pantry, Tony straightened back out with a hand full of seasonings and come boxes and cans. His speech was slightly distracted as he was cataloging his ingredients in his hands, “So I was thinking, while we wait for the soup to simmer, we could watch a movie. I own that film you wanted to watch.”

Loki moved out of the kitchen to the couch, “That would be wonderful, I’ll get the film set up.” He put his coffee down next to the couch and tried to remember how to get Tony’s entertainment center to work. His tongue stuck out in concentration as he finally got the TV on and the DVD player on. He rooted around for the DVD and when he found it he smiled. 

“Dad was really impressed with you last night.” 

“Oh? It’s that good?” 

“Uh yeah!” Tony was chopping vegetables and moving to get a pan heating up for cooking some chicken, “Although, if I’m being honest, that was not how I wanted the meeting the parents even to go.” 

Loki sat back once the DVD was loaded in, and closed his eyes, laughing gently at Tony’s statement, “Maybe we’ll get to redo it, it’s not like they know we’re dating."

“Yeah, but I don’t think I'm ready for that stage yet, you know?”

There was a long pause, and when Tony peaked his head out of the kitchen he sighed seeing Loki softly snoozing away. He set down his tools and came over with a blanket and tucked his boyfriend in to sleep. 

The extra warmth sent Loki further into sleep, but he never quite reached actual sleep, staying somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness. He could hear Tony in the kitchen, moving around and the sounds of cooking, but didn’t have any real concept of the passing of time. When Loki was roused it was to a pair of lips on his neck, he groaned softly opening an eye.    
  
“Soup is ready.” 

He blinked and came to full consciousness, stretching momentarily, titling his head back for Tony to have access to his neck, “What?” 

Tony chuckled against his skin, “Good morning beautiful, can I interest you in a bowl of chicken noodle soup with vegetables, and maybe a cup of tea rather than coffee?”

“That sound amazing,” he smiled up to Tony and turned his head to kiss him softly, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to doze off.”

They kissed again, before tony returned to kissing along his neck, “No big deal, the kettle will probably whistle here in a second.” 

Loki grinned and with a quick moment pulled Tony down onto the couch beside him tugging the blanket over them both, “Let it whistle.” 

Tony snuggled close, “Warm enough?” 

“I am warming up,” he leaned in to kiss his boyfriend deeply. Tony’s hands ran up his chest, over his shoulders and back down to rest on his sides and back, “Good to hear, although if we keep this up. We might spoil our appetite, having dessert before lunch.” Loki's eyes were closed in bliss of the feel of warm lips on his neck, Tony's beard scratching slightly as his skin, he knew he’d have some irritation from the kissing, but he didn’t care, “I’m okay with that.” 

Tony shifted them, Loki was now resting on top of his boyfriend, warm hands on his ass and lips still kissing down his neck and collarbone, “Might be getting a bit hot even.” He rolled his hips against Tony, and both of them moaned softly. Tony’s hands moved to his hips, and after a heated kiss said breathlessly, “I have some sorbet if you need to cool down.”

“Cool down… that might be a good idea,” he slowly pulled back looking down at the blanket shaded face of his boyfriend, and he was struck for a moment how those eyes looked up at him. With absolute reverence, he could almost see the adoration in Tony’s face. Tony leaned up to kiss him and was trying to kiss him again when the kettle finally let out shrill whistle. Tony sighed softly and after a moment of shuffling, was up to pull the kettle off the stove. Loki had to sit up and take a breather to bring himself back under control. When he stood he followed Tony into the kitchen. He found a small table set for two, tea being set down at the second seat. He watched tony move back to the stove and serve up two dishes of soup, he brought those over and sat down. In the middle of the table was a small basket of fresh rolls and butter. He let the warmth wash over him as he took a deep breath of the aroma. He Picked up his spoon and after the initial bite was struggling to remember that the soup was hot, “Oh my god, Tony this is amazing!” 

Tony met his smile with a polite nod, “thanks, I’m glad you like it.” 

Loki missed the way Tony’s face went pensive for a moment, to focused on the food in front of him, “Truly Tony, you should cook all the time, this is amazing.” 

Tony chuckled in answer as he ate, a little more sedately than Loki. They ate in silence for a moment before Loki sat back, able to eat more sedately now, “Thank you for having me over, I would love to watch that movie with you, i just need to be home before four.” 

Tony checked over Loki’s shoulder at the stove clock, “Well if you wanted to finish it, I could give you a ride home.” 

“Oh, that’s okay, I don’t want you driving all over before work.” 

“It’s no big deal.” 

Loki bit his lip and his hesitation send a look of disappointment over his boyfriend’s face. It hit him in the gut with guilt, Tony wasn’t Sigyn, “Well.. There’s a small grocery store nearby that you could drop me off at that would cut some time off my commute.” 

Tony grinned, “perfect, Let me just put the dished up.” 

Loki helped where he could, and after a few moments the two of them headed back to the kitchen, there they settled in as Tony hit play on the DVD. Loki curled up against Tony's side and with the blanket over him and tony holding him he had a hard time keeping his eyes open. He managed to stay awake for the first 30 minutes before dozing off. 

He was woke with more soft kisses and he groaned, “I am so sorry.” 

“It’s three thirty.” 

Loki sat up and rubbed his face, “Oh tony… I’m sorry I've been a terrible date.” 

Tony rubbed his back, “You’re always welcome to crash on my couch.” 

Loki gave him an apologetic smile, “thank you… want to give me that ride?”

Tony smiled, “Definitely.” He kissed Loki’s temple, “Hey, you want some of this soup for the road?” 

Loki blinked, “Yes. Please.” He stood and helped his boyfriend put together a to go container. And even when he complained Tony was giving him too much Tony wouldn’t hear of it. Loki was saddled with the container and after he and tony had their jackets on, he was led outside to an old car. Tony had told him that when he had time on the weekends, it was his project outside of his kitchen. The hood needed paint and the back seats needed upholstery. Tony had said something about the engine being built from scrap, which of course sounded impressive. The shorter man opened the door for Loki and with a kiss, Loki slipped into the car. He buckled and settled with the soup in his lap. Tony got in as well and soon they were rolling out of the parking garage and down the roads towards the grocery store. When tony pulled into the parking lot he leaned over to give him a kiss, “I’ll see you tonight?”

Loki caressed his check, “Yes. See you soon.” 

Another quick kiss and Loki was out of the car walking back to his apartment, hoping to beat the busses to the stop. 

* * *

 

The job kept both Tony and Loki busy, and it was even more of a balancing act to even see Tony. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with his kids, wanting to make sure he wasn’t the absent father type nor put too much adult responsibility on Fenrir. Yet, the allure of feeling young and wanted was appealing as well, and he tried to get out to see Tony, but more and more he found himself falling asleep in his boyfriend's presence, head on his shoulder. Outside of his personal life, his professional life was excelling, He was launched towards being one of the best waiters on the staff, and Howard was soon letting him train any of the new people he brought. It came with a small pay raise, but not enough to take any real edge off his financial worries. Still, he worked hard. His tips helped more often than not meet the difference he needed to make ends meet, and he knew it was because he flirted with some of his customers. He never flirted with any of his coworkers, very aware of Howard's warning of ‘no fraternization with other staff members.’ That didn’t stop some of his coworkers from trying. 

It had been few months since starting and it was a particularly busy night, Tony was working more on the floor than in the kitchen and as he was heading past the office from the bathroom, Tony pulled him in and he found himself being kissed breathless.    
  
“Tony! W-we’re at work!!”

“I know. I’m sorry.” he stepped back putting the distance between them, “I just.. I want to tell them all to stop.” 

Loki gave him a puzzled look as that spurred his boyfriend to continue to talking, “Everyone who’s flirting with you, I want to tell them to back off, you’re mine. And I can’t - it’s driving me crazy!”

Loki’s face softened, “Oh Tony.. I know. I’m sorry. I tell them to stop - The only flirting I allow is if a tip is involved.” 

Tony snorted, “I can’t tell if that makes me feel any better.”

“I only have eyes for you.” he touched Tony’s elbow. That earned him a smile, “Thanks.” 

“Shall we try for lunch… say Friday I have that day off? Get some time for the two of us?” 

“I’d really like that.” Tony smiled. 

“We can meet at your place? I’ll even bring a little surprise.” 

“Perfect, We can solidify plans in a few days? Until then, go on, before your customers get mad or people start asking questions.” 

Loki backed away, blowing Tony a kiss before vanishing around the corner. 

The next few days Loki tried to turn his flirting down, asking the female staff that flirted with him to stop. And even as the staff changed their behavior to do as he asked, he found himself trying to reassure Tony by stopping by the office or going to stand with him in the kitchen before having to return to his customers. It was Thursday night and suddenly there was gossip running fast through the wait staff, suddenly everyone was noting how a flirtation comment was shot down by Tony. Loki didn’t care that Tony flirted, it was the reason they even started dating because the man had no filter between his brain and mouth when it came to some of the things he said. He was also persistent. Yet, this large of ripple from the staff put doubt in his head. What if Tony hadn’t been faithful? No.. no, tony wasn’t that kind of guy, he tried to squish the thought, yet it nagged and ate at him. By the end of the night he was fraught with worry. 

When Tony called him in to get tips, he tried to hide his unease. He offered a smile as he accepted his tips, “thanks.” 

“So, lunch tomorrow?” 

He’d basically forgotten about it, “Oh, uh. Right. Just… just text me.” 

Tony frowned, “Hey, you okay?” 

“Yes. Yes, I’m fine, I’ll.. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“... okay. I’ll text you?”

Tony offered another tense smile, “Goodnight.” He left quickly. His mind was working over time and by the time he got home, checked on his kids, showered and fell in bed, he was trying to convince himself that he was blowing everything up out of proportion. Tony wouldn’t do that to him. He was tired and that was making everything seem worse. He took a deep breath and slowly fell asleep. The next morning, the feeling of dread had mostly gone away, but it still nagged at him as he got his kids up, fed and out the door to school. He sat down to nap before needing to go to Tony's. 

He was woken by his text tone and a message from Tony. ‘ _ Lunch will be ready soon, please come at your earliest convenience.’  _

Loki was about to reply when another message popped up, ‘ _ If not convenient, come any way.’ _

That got a laugh from Loki as he stood to go find his shoes, he shot back, “ _ Haha Sherlock. Sounds nice, I will be by soon.”  _

He had just finished lacing up his shoes and was going to grab his jacket when his phone rang, immediately his building good spirits fell, Fenrir’s school. He was informed that the boy had gotten into a fight and he was being dismissed for the day. 

Loki pinched the bridge of his nose and had to text Tony, ‘ _ Something came up, I can’t make it.’ _

With a heavy sigh he went to get his wayward son.


	3. Soup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot of fluff and happiness and NSFW-ness. 
> 
> So. BE PREPARED. Next chapter be prepared for feels.

It had been almost a week since his flopped date with Tony, and he hadn’t seen or heard from his boyfriend in all that time. The first few days of his absence at work he was sure tony was mad him, but the longer he went without seeing his boyfriend at work, the more he got concerned. Howard had been trying to groom Tony into a manager, his prolonged absence didn’t bode well. He finally slipped into the office one afternoon during a lull to ask Howard.

“Mr. Stark? I.. I noticed that Tony hasn’t been around in a while, is he okay?”

“Hum? Tony? Yeah, the idiot managed to burn his hands cooking at home,” he shook his head at his son’s clumsiness, “he’ll be back in a few days.”

Loki’s shock was clearly painted on his face, “I-is he in the hospital?”

“No. I mean, he was, his mother’s with him right now.” The restauranter shook his head, “he’ll be find Loki, I’ll tell him you asked after him and I'm sure that will make his night. Now, go on back to your tables, 21 is running low on drinks.”

Loki took care of his tables immediate needs and found a quiet corner to text his mother, ‘ _Can you come watch the kids tonight? A friend of mine is hurt and I need to visit him.’_

When he came back to the corner a few minutes later, his mother had agreed with lots of heart emojis which made him smile at her enthusiasm. _‘The kids should be in bed by 9, there's stuff in the fridge for dinner.’_

He wasn’t able to look at his phone until his shift was over at 8, at which point he collected his tips and was out the door, he used some of tip money to buy some sherbert he knew Tony liked. The walk thankfully wasn’t long and when he got to the apartment he knocked.

There was a muffled exclamation on the other side of the door which sounded a lot like ‘Mother!’

The door opened and Tony had this look of exasperation as he said, “I told you -” but he stopped mid sentence seeing Loki on his door step, “Loki?”

“Hi, I heard you got hurt.”

“Oh.. yeah, just minor burns..” he waved his bandaged hands.

He started rambling, “I thought you were mad at me, I’m sorry! I would have been by sooner if I had known!”

“Me? No.” Tony moved out of the way for Loki to come inside, “I thought you were mad at me.”

Loki gave him a puzzled look, “No. I wasn’t ever - why would you think that?”

“Well, you were so skittish that night, you barely talked to me after work, and then when I asked you about lunch it felt like you just blew it off and that you were only saying yes because you didn’t wanted to disappoint me.”

Loki sighed, “No.. Something really did come up. Just- the others were talking about how strange it was to see you not flirting with them, and my mind just ran wild.”

Tony tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“That maybe your flirting meant something more… with others”

Loki dropped his eyes to his feet, not before seeing Tony’s mouth a perfect little ‘o’ his face one of dawning understanding.

“NO. No. Nonono.” Tony stepped forward and wrapped Loki in a hug, “I stopped because it wasn’t fair, I was asking you to stop and I was still doing it? So, I decided I shouldn't do it myself. I swear Loki, I have never - will never - cheat on you.”

Loki dropped his head to Tony’s shoulder, “I know i haven’t been the best boyfriend, and I worried… i’m sorry.”

“But you're my boyfriend.”

Loki looked up and gave a small smile, “I just… I didn’t have the best relationship experience before you.”

“This is my first serious relationship, so we’re both working through the kinks.”

That surprised Loki, “Really? But you’re so good at it.”

Tony shrugged, “Work got in the way, and I didn’t try hard enough most of the time.”

Loki smiled, “But you’re making the effort now - I appreciate it. I do.”

Tony kissed him, “Good, because you’re worth the effort.”

Loki held up the grocery bag, “I bought sherbert and if.. If it’s not too much of a burden, I can stay the night.”

Tony had a stupid and goofy grin on his face, “Yes! What kind of sherbert is it?”

They headed into the kitchen as Loki pulled the tub free, “Strawberry.”

“My favorite!”

“I know. Go sit down."

Tony blinked and went to sit down at the table, loki rooted around found a bowl and spoon, and after scooping a bit into the bowl, he walked over to the table and sat down in Tony’s lap and offered a spoon full of the treat to his boyfriend. He watched his amusement as tony turned red even as he accepted the treat.  After a few spoon fulls, he leaned in for a kiss and enjoyed getting to lick away the traces of the sugar on Tony’s lips.

“T-Thanks.” Tony gave him a warm but bashful smile. 

“Of course, now… how about a movie?”

“We can finish that one you fell asleep on a while back.”

Loki nodded, “Sounds good, I’ll go set it up once I put away this dishes.”

Tony nodded and once Loki had put away the sherbert in the freezer, the spoon into the dishwasher, he follow his boyfriend to the living room. Loki got the dvd going and then folded himself in next to Tony. When the movie finished Tony kissed Loki’s forehead, “Thanks for coming over, Don’t you have work tomorrow morning?”

“I - I have someone covering for me tonight.” Loki said slowly.

“Wait. You go to work after you get off from the restaurant? I thought you said it was an early morning job?”

“... it’s a round the clock job.” He slowly eased over to straddle Tony’s lap and leaning down to kiss him. Loki was glad that Tony seemed easily distracted by his kisses. He felt Tony’s fingertips graze his jaw, and there was an attempt to touch more of his face as he felt gauze pass over his cheek. He got lost in Tony’s lips before his boyfriend pulled away and with a hazy lick of his lips he waved his hands, “Hey.. so, I just remember - I need to have this bandages changed. Do you think you could help? I ain’t got no dexterity right now.”

He chuckled and kissed Tony again, “Of course, where are your supplies?”

“In my bathroom.”

Loki got up and went to fetch the supplies, when he came back he flopped down next to Tony and began to gently take care of his boyfriend's hands. He placed a kiss to the back of his hands before applying the ointment that was needed and then proceeded to rebandaged Tony’s hands.

“Thanks.”

“Of course,” he kept hold of Tony’s hands in his own, looking up into brown eyes, “How long until you can cook again? I know you must miss it.”

“Hopefully another week, docs said I was lucky it wasn’t a really bad burn, once it heals shouldn’t have any permanent damage.”

“Good.”

Tony seemed to just sigh, “So just another week of being babied by my mother.”

Loki jumped a little as Tony pitched forward, the brunette's head landing gently against his chest, “Save me.” Loki wrapped his arms around Tony with a smirk, “I can help take care of you.”

“I’d like that… I-I just don’t want it to take away from your work.”

“I’ll see what I can manage, but for now, why don’t we go to bed?”

He felt Tony nod against his chest before the other sat up and then got off the couch. They walked down a hallway and into a smaller room. Loki was amused, as much as the living room was a minimalist feel, Tony’s bedroom was cluttered and looked lived in. He watched with a secret smile as Tony tried to push things aside and make it tidy.

“Sorry about the mess.”

“It’s fine Tony, do you perhaps have something I can borrow to sleep in?”

“Oh…” he paused as Loki wrapped his arms around him, “Yeah, second drawer from the top, boxers, tank tops, I think a few flannel pj pants.”

They took their time changing and after a moment of hesitation, Loki slipped in bed after Tony. As the other turned over to turn off the lights, Loki touched his shoulder, “Tony. I - I just want to promise that I’m not mad at you.”

He got a smile and a kiss, “It’s cool, thank for coming over.”

“Of course, any time. You should have called me.”

“Gauze wrapped fingers and touch phones don’t work so well. I didn’t want my mother going through my phone and seeing your name, she isn’t the most discreet, and if she knew, there is little doubt in my mind she wouldn’t let it slip to my father. I didn’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I don’t either, but we couldn’t have explained it somehow.” He had to close his eye against the wave of anxiety the thought of losing his job brought on, “But, I’m here now and we should sleep."

Tony nodded and with one more kiss settled in with his boyfriend. Loki found he slept deeply that night.

****

* * *

 

Habit woke Loki at 6 am, he slipped from Tony’s side to call his mother and speak with his kids before they were to be on the bus. He soothed them letting them all know he would be home by the time they got home. Once his kids were soothed, he hung up and headed back to bed with Tony. He slipped into beside Tony and driften back off, only to be woke by kisses. Which while nice, was really distracting when trying to sleep. He whined and shrunk away from the lips towards the warm they chest they belong to. He felt Tony chuckle and slowly opened an eye, “mmm… what?”

“You’re getting shorter.”

“What?” he blinked a little waking a little more.

“I can see the top of your head.”

“Well, you’re comfortable.” he titled his head back and leaned up to kiss under Tony’s jaw.

Tony was quick and captured his lips in a kiss, “I’m glad I could make you happy.”

“You always do.”

Tony kissed him again and sighed, “....my mom will be here soon.”

Loki nodded, slowly uncurling to stretch, “I suppose I should go.”

“I wish you didn’t have to.”

Loki chuckled, “Well … what if I come back tomorrow evening after I get off work?”

“I’d really like that.”

Loki smiled and kissed Tony again before getting up, “Then, we have a date.”

He heard Tony chuckle as he stood to go get dressed. Once dressed he and Tony exchanged several kisses before before Loki slipped out the door and headed back to his apartment and his kids. With his nerves settled from Tony, he felt himself a little more relaxed. With tip money in hand he decided he and the kids needed a treat or two, he hopped a bus to the nearest shopping store and picked up things, a book he knew Jeorge wanted, cookies for them all, a coloring book for Helena and a superhero movie for Fenrir. With his treats secured, he headed back home.

When he got home he found he had energy to pick up and once everything was done he went to bathe, and found himself feling very flirty. He hiked up his shirt and let his pants ride low revealing his stomach and the boxers he’d worn the night prior from Tony’s place under his pants. He took a picture and set the text to Tony.

_‘Looks like I got to take a part of you home with me.’_

He didn’t anticipate his boyfriend to text him back, especially with his fingers, but as he settled into the tub and the warm water of his bath, his phone vibrated. Loki picked it up and looked at the message.

_‘No fair i cant touch it.’_

Loki chuckled, quickly texting back, _‘Then pretend.’_

He sank down low to dunk his head under the water, his hair cascading down his shoulders, he pushed the water from his face and hummed in happiness. If he could have more days like today he really wouldn’t complain. He looked up again as his phone vibrated and he looked over at the message, _‘says the man with his hands no bandages.’_

He laughed at the bad grammar, but decided not to fluster his boyfriend any more. He finished bathing and got dressed, his kids should be home soon.

As he was walking out of his room, pulling his damp hair into a ponytail, the three came barreling in the front door, there was a pause before Helena’s squeal of happiness carried across the room, “PAPA!”

He turned and held his arms open as the little girl barreled into her father's arms. He scooped her up and kissed her cheek, she was smiling happily as she hugged him back with a giggle. His sons came in a little more sedately both waving amiably at their father.

“Papa.” Jorge said in greeting as he moved past to his room to drop off his back pack.

“Oh Jeorge! THere’s a gift for you on your bed, in fact.” he put his daughter back to her feet, “There is a gift on each of your beds.”

The siblings looked at each other in puzzlement before hurrying to their beds, Helena was more vocal in her pleasure, coming out of her room with the coloring book held over her head with scream of happiness. 

“Helena!” Loki admonished with a laugh, “Darling, inside voice please.” 

She sat down and hugged the book to her chest, “Thank you papa!” 

“Oh cool, did you get a movie Fenrir?” Jeorge was asking his brother as the boys exited their room. “I did, is that the book you wanted?”

“It is. Thank you papa.”

“Of course my darlings. I was thinking, how about pizza tonight and then we can make cookies and maybe if Fenrir wants to share, we can all watch a movie?” 

“Oh! Yes! Please Fenrir!” 

Fenrir was smiling soft, “That sounds like a good idea Papa.” 

Loki smiled, “excellent, I’ll order. Should be here soon, would you all like to help me with the cookies in the meantime?”

It was pleasant, after Loki ordered, they bustled around the kitchen and made cookies together as a family, and for a moment it was easy to forget how bad things were. His kids were laughing and happy, and that was enough. When the pizza arrived the kids instant flocked to the table, he brought over the pizza and kissed everyone's head, “How about we eat on the couch?” 

“Can we!” helena asked bouncing. 

“I think we can, a treat while we watch the movie.”

With pizza served, movie playing, Loki relaxed back to bask in the feeling of contentment. About twenty into the movie, the cookies dinged and he got up briefly to take them out, and then once everyone had eaten, and the cookies were cool enough, he brought the plate over to the coffee table for the kids to graze. By the time the movie was over, Helena was half asleep in his arms. Fenrir turned off the TV and with a yawn got up to head to bed. He followed after to tuck his daughter into bed and kiss his eldest good night, when he came back out to the living room, he noticed his middle child on the couch with he book. He smiled, “Don’t stay up too late Jeorge.”

“Hum? Oh… I won’t, after this chapter. I don’t wish to read the whole thing tonight.” As Loki turned away to head to his room he heard Jeorge add, “I am glad you’re feeling better.”

Loki gave a sad smile, “Me too, you seem happier too, I like seeing you smile Jeorge.”

 “... I. I miss her. But - I know she did something wrong… and … and I hate her.”

He sighed and slowly sat down next to his son, “Jeorge, you can feel how ever you want to, but… don’t feel like you have to hate her… or anyone.”

“She was supposed to love us, supposed to care for us…” the youths voice rather even for the turbulent topic, “but she didn’t, she chose to hurt us. I… I sometimes dream about her, when I was younger, just before Helena was born. I hate those dreams.” 

Loki reached over and rubbed Jeorge’s back, “It doesn’t seem fair, I know. D-did I ever tell you about when I found out I was adopted?”

Young green eyes mirroring his own turned up to him, “Is that way you and Uncle Thor don’t get along?”

“One of the reasons,” he gave a sigh, “... when I found out that I was adopted, all I could think about was how neither of parents wanted me… how they had thrown me away.”

“But… grandma and grandpa love you.” Loki wrapped his arm around Jeorge’s shoulders as the boy leaned against him.

“I know, but at that time all I could think about how they weren’t my mother or father - how that they left me. I was so angry that they had abandoned me. But- eventually, I remembered how much I was loved, and it helped me less angry, less sad.”

“Yet… you and Uncle Thor still argue.” 

Loki tickled him, “Yes, well you and Fenrir will probably always but heads, I think it’s a brother thing.”

Jeorge wiggled out of his grasp with a silent laugh, “We are really different, sometimes it’s hard to believe we’re blood brothers.”

“Believe me, you are.” he kissed his forehead, “Just remember I love you, and that will never change. Alright?”

For a moment he saw the 11 year old that Jeorge was supposed to be as he leaned into his father hugging him tight, “I love you too papa… thanks.”

He lifted his childs face to look into his eyes and kissed his forehead, “And you, Fenrir or Helena can come to me for anything at any time. Okay? I’m here for you three.”

He felt Jeorge nod as he pulled away slowly, “Okay.” He bit back a yawn and stood, “I think I’ll go to bed. Goodnight Papa.”

“Goodnight Jeorge.”

He watched as the boy wandered off to his room. He stood and went to make sure everything was locked up and turned off the lights and with a sigh collapsed into bed, passing out quickly.

 

* * *

 

Loki hadn’t set an alarm, and found he woke to the smell of… cinnamon rolls? He crawled out of bed scratching his scalp as he let his hair down out of his ponytail, he hadn’t meant to sleep with his hair up, but he did and he was sure his hair had a weird wave pattern going on and his scalp hurt, but he was home and didn’t really care. When he came out of the bedroom he found Fenrir and Jeorge standing over the stove.   
  
“What are you two doing up?”

“Making breakfast.”

“Oh… thank you boys.”

“Hey papa,” Jeorge turned fully towards him, “Can we go to the park this afternoon? Maybe have a picnic?”

He had to pause, mentally cataloging what was in their pantry and slowly nodded, “I think we could. I should be able to make a lunch for an outing.”

Fenrir grinned, “Perfect! It’ll be fun.”

The sound of tiny feet padding across tile pulled everyone's attention to a dark hair and still sleepy little girl, “Are those cinmin rolls?”

“They are,” Fenrir smirked at Helena’s pronunciation.

“They’re almost ready,” Jeorge pulled his sister's chair out from the table and helped her into it. 

“Can I help put the icing on?” she asked.

“Yeah. Sure.” Fenrir nodded.

Loki smiled happily as he started making tea and hot chocolate for them.

When Fenrir pulled the rolls from the oven, he brought them over to his sister and together they got the icing on the rolls, Loki fell into domestic bliss, getting to feel like a father rather than a sperm donor who just happened to exist on the same plane as his children. As everyone ate, Jeorge filled Helena in on their plans to go to the park and have a picnic, and Loki grinned as he listened to his daughter's wild imagination. She was determined they could play Safari, go see the wild animals and tell him how he could be a panther. He could see Jeorge start to protest and then bite his tongue to not correct Helena that Panthers didn’t live with Giraffas or Lions. This was what he missed so sorely. After he got everyone dressed and had them help pack the food he found himself longing to be able to invite Tony. He shook his head, now wasn’t the time for that though. He got their picnic basket packet and nodded, “Alright, are we ready?”

Three sets of cheers echoed his question and the four of them set off for the near by park. It was everything everyone wanted, Helena and Jeorge playing tag, occasionally coaxing their big brother into playing, even him. Then collapsing on to their blanket in piles of laugher. The weather was bright and even once they settled in to eat lunch the conversation and laughter continued to flow. Loki drank in every, giggle, smile and laugh. He found himself leaning back and realizing that he needed to figure out what to do about having someone to watch his kids if he was going to go to Tony’s after work tonight. He texted his mother, who - he could hear the knowing smile from the phone - was ecstatic to watch the kids, offering to watch them for the entire weekend. He agreed and sat up, “Okay you rascals, we need to pack up and go home, your grandmother is coming to pick you all up.”

“Why?” Fenrir asked.

“... I have a have a friend and he burnt his hands badly and I need to help take care of him. I would like you for you all to spend the weekend with your grandparents.”

“Why do you have to take care of him?” Fenrir demanded.

“Because he doesn’t have anyone else.”’

Fenrir sighed and nodded and helped start packing up their picnic. When they got home, the kids scrambled to pack an overnight bag for their grandparents, Loki could tell Fenrir and Jeorge were not sold on his story and Helena was the only one pleased about getting to spend the weekend with Frigga and Odin. As the kids packed he sent Tony a quick text, _‘I am free until Sunday if you want me to stay. Tell your mother you have someone coming to care for you and to enjoy the weekend.’_

He slipped his phone into his pocket as there was a knock at the door, he opened it to find his mother standing there. She swept in to kiss Loki’s cheek.   
  
“Darling! Where are all my muffins!?”

“Grandma!” Helena came rushing out to meet her grandmother with a hug. The boys were more sedate, and after helping get everyone packed up in Frigga’s car, Loki kissed his kids and said, “I will be home by Sunday evening, so your grandmother will drop you all back off. I love you all and be good.”

He kissed his mother and thanked her before rushing back into the apartment to get ready for work. The rest of the evening was a long one and when he finally made it to Tony’s door he was exhausted but happy. Tony greeted him with a kiss, “Hey there handsome.”

“Hey yourself.”

“You look exhausted.”

"I feel it.”  

“That bad at the restaurant?”

“I had a busy day too.”

 “Ah, well, come in, mom made spaghetti before she left, so I’ve got plenty if you’re hungry.”  

“Maybe tomorrow, I just want to go to sleep.”

“Then let us to bed.”

 “Do I need to change your bandages?”

“Uh.. actually yes.”

Loki and Tony headed to the bedroom, where Loki quickly patched Tony up, changed and flopped into bed with a sigh.

Tony scooted up to him and kissed along his neck, “Sleep well babe.”

Loki smiled and wrapped his arms around Tony’s neck and kissed his slowly, “You too.”

They exchanged a few more lazy kisses before they fell asleep Tony curled up around Loki.

 

* * *

 

Loki woke the next morning, sighing softly as he slowly stretched out and nuzzled his face against Tony’s chest, “Mm, morning.”   
  
Tony pressed a kiss to his crown, “Morning, your phone went off.”

 Panic woke him so fast as he scrambled to grab his phone. When he found only a text from Fenrir he relaxed. He texted his son back and then rolled over to snuggled back with his boyfriend.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

 “Good. It's killing me that I can’t cook you breakfast.”

Loki laughed, “you really like cooking that much? Tell you what, Why don’t we go out?”  
  
Tony blinked, “Oh? I’d like that!”

Loki slipped from bed to rummage in his bag, “Then up and get dressed.”

Tony eagerly followed behind him, “Hey.. before we go, can you bandage my hands again?”

 Loki paused, “Oh yeah sure.”

They were silent as Loki took care of Tony and as he put everything Tony leaned in and kissed his lips, “Thank you.”

 A soft smile passed over his lips as he closed the lid to the supplies, “I like taking care of you.”

 “I like it too, you don’t hover.”

“You don’t need me to hover, you’re a grown man.”

Tony chuckled, “You should tell my mother that.”

“Oh I don’t think I’m quite ready for that.” he poked Tony’s nose with a smile as he stood to put the supplies back where they belonged before moving to start getting undressed. He knew Tony’s eyes were on him and the rush to be seen as desirable was so good..

Tony’s fingertips ghosted over his back. “You know, you seem much more animated today than I’ve seen you in a while.”

“I had a bit of a revelation.” 

“Oh?”

“Yeah… I think.. I am finally over my ex and just realized that I could be happy again, and you know - i deserve that.”

Tony had this goofy smile on his face and stood up to kiss him, “You look good happy. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you two break up? So - you know - I know what not to do.”

Loki looked away, slowly answering, “She.. she got into drugs.”

“Oh Loki… those can really change people, I’m sorry. Did she ever get help?”

He sighed, “I don’t know, after the divorce finalized…” he froze he hadn’t told Tony he’d been married, he chanced a glance over his shoulder and when Tony didn’t look freaked out, he forced himself to relax, “I.. haven’t seen her since.”

Tony hugged him and kissed his neck, “I’m sorry, that must have been tough. Sorry I brought it up.”

 He leaned back against Tony’s chest, “It’s been difficult to think about.”

 “I’m glad you took a chance on me.”

He turned and pecked Tony’s check, “You were very persuasive.”

 Tony laughed and kissed him again, “Let me get dressed and we can go.”

Loki smiled and finished dressing himself.

They met in the living room and tony handed Loki his keys, “Here.”

“Oh .. I … you’re okay with this?”

“Hell yeah. I can’t.” he wiggled his hands.   
  
Loki made sure he had his wallet and led the way out of the apartment.  Tony followed after him, and after they were both buckled in, Loki drove to a small bakery. While they drove, he noticed that the hood of the car was painted and that launched tony into a long story about how much of a pain it was to find the right paint. He honestly loved listening to Tony talk, the man was so passionate, and it was nice to talk about things that weren’t kid things. When they finally arrived and were walking into the bakery, he locked the car, “I hadn’t realized you were that into cars.”

He held open the door for his boyfriend who slipped past him with a silent thanks, “Yeah, have been since a kid, cars and cooking, I bought my car right before I went to college, it’s been a long road to hoe to get her fixed up, I spent most of college replacing the engine. Which if you don’t have a shop to work in, is a real challenge.”

Loki found them a table and passed a menu to Tony, “Did you teach yourself?”

“Nope, mom taught me.”

“Your mother?”

“Hell yeah, dad was always cooking, so she said some body had to know how to change the oil.”

 Loki laughed and after the waitress took their order he just shook his head, “I think I just fell in love with your mother.”

“She’s special.” Tony agreed.

“She made a very beautiful son.” Loki was pleased with himself when Tony blushed. He was given a moment to recover when their drinks were delivered.

“So, what’s your thing? Mines cars and cooking.”

“I.. don’t have a thing.”

“Well if you did, what would it be?”

He scratched his head and shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Well, we can figure that out.”

“I really don’t have a lot of time to devote to me.”

“We can work on that too, You can’t keep letting your jobs run you into the ground, Like you said earlier, You deserve to be happy.”

“It’s okay… hey, want to go see a movie?” he could tell Tony didn’t like the change of topic, but didn’t say anything more.   
  
“There was an action flick I’ve heard is supposed to be really good.”

 “Perfect, it's been awhile since I’ve watched an adult movie.”

The enjoyed their breakfast and when it got closer to the movie times they paid and left the restaurant for the theater. The day was exactly as Loki wanted it, a day of laughter and companionship. He couldn’t remember when he had been this happy. He found himself holding Tony’s hand and leaning against his shoulder as the credits for the movie rolled, “That was amazing.”

Tony winced, “Loki… hand.”

“Oh! I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. No big deal, just still a bit tender.”

“So… what now?”

 “No idea, want to head back to my place and laze about?”

“That.. sounds amazing.”

Tony kissed him rather deeply in the low light of the theater and he found himself a little breathless. “Tease.”

Tony winked and offered his arm when Loki got to the aisle with him and they walked out arm and arm.

 

* * *

 

When they got back to Tony’s place and the door closed, Tony pinned him against a wall and kissed him insistently, “That’s for that picture you sent me.”

Loki blushed but felt a smile cross his lips, “Oh… is that so.”

“Hell yeah, my mother was here and I’m stuck with bandages on my hands, you’re a terrible tease.”

Loki laughed and wrapped his arms around Tony’s shoulders, “Oh what a terrible, terrible fate.”

 “I am going to need some sort of compensation.”

 Loki laughed, “Oh.. well… I think we can come up with something.” 

They met in another kiss, their bodies gravitating to each other, grinding and rubbing against each other.  
  
“Fuck Loki… I want you.”

It was like all the confidence was taken right from him and he was suddenly a blushing, clumsy mess, “I… I think i could be persuaded to do something more intimate.”

“Yeah?”

 “W-what are you comfortable with doing?”

“I’ve done alot, I’ll do just about anything.”

“W-Well.. I don’t think I’m ready for… for sex…” he blushed brighter as Tony pushed his hair behind his ear, “But I would be okay with something… something more than making out.” 

“Let's go to the bed, more room.” Loki found himself being pulled back to Tony’s room. He pulled down on top of tony, and suddenly there was a rush of feelings. Tonys lips were hot on his, on his neck and collarbone. He moaned softly, “Tony… Oh.. Tony.”

“You okay?” Tony asked nipping his lips.

“Y-yeah. Just… it’s.. Been…. A while.”

There was a look on Tony’s face, “Have you ever been with a man?”

He was blushing again, “N-No… I mean.. I know how it works.. In theory.. I’ve done research.”

Tony relaxed, “Oh… good. Sorry if I got a little gung-ho.” 

“It’s okay…” he smiled, “Really, you make me feel so good.” 

“Good, you deserve it.” he got a kiss from Tony and once again the brunette was all over his neck and shoulders, “Tony! Oh gods.. That feels so good.”

“Yeah.. can I do more?” he nibbled on Loki’s ear, “Can I suck you off?”

 “Y-You… I… you don’t have to.. No one likes that anyway.”

“Oh no.. giving head is quite nice, and I would love to be the one to treat you.”

“O-only if you want to, I don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“Never in a million years.” Tony’s hands pushed his shirt up and with a flip, Loki was now on his back, Tony kissing down his chest and neck, “You’re fucking magnificent.”

 “No-oh!” his breath caught in his throat when Tony’s teeth scraped across his stomach, his thoughts lost as Tony’s mouth traveled in kisses and teasings scraps of teeth down his body. He nearly jumped off the bed when Tony ended up mouthing him through his pants.

“T-Tony!” He watched through hooded eyes as a pair of brown eyes blow wide with desire looked up to him and if it wasn’t the most perfect, sexy face to see as Tony licked his lips, “Yeah?”

“I-I.. just… a-are you sure.”

“Very. Are you okay with this?”

“I… y-yeah.. Please.” he was so curious.

After a few moment of teasing, Tony enlisted Loki’s fingers to help divest his lover of his pants and under things. At first he found himself watching, watching Tony’s tongue slip out past kiss-swollen lips and lick him from base to tip. The tip of Tony’s tongue found the slit, and his head fell back with a moan. Suddenly all that mattered were those lips, tongue and sweet wet heat. It was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Sigyn had never done this to him, and Tony was amazing. His pressure alternated, his speed and even depth changed. He was on edge, the moan that escaped his lips was so loud it actually startled him. Tony paused to look up at him having felt him jump.   
  
He blushed and reached down to string his fingers through tony’s hair, “I-Im fine.”

The hum that Tony made in response shot straight into him and stoked the fire in his belly. Then there were fingers, gently cupping his balls all while applying a pressure just behind his balls - he didn’t even know his body liked that let alone that someone would think to touch there. He bucked, mind far away, and only when a steadying hand fell on his hip did he remember to keep still. It was a sweet torture, and he was soon moaning, writhing mess in Tony’s mouth and he was getting so close.

“T-Tony.. Tony get off! I-I’m! Ohhh…”

 When his wet heat only got hotter he let out a half moan half whine, pulling on Tony’s hair, “Tony! Oh.. Tony!”

 Tony finally popped off, “Loki, it’s okay… you can let go.”

“W-What? Why would you?”

“I do. I want to okay? It’s another way of knowing you, i get to taste you.”

He felt his whole body flush, “If… if you want to.”

“I do. When you’re ready just tap my head.” he nodded and when Tony took him back in his mouth, he was again lost and bliss and vaguely remember to tap Tony’s head before came, “Tony!”

It felt like years, when it was only moments as Tony swallowed around, him sucking his seed down, and when he thought he was done Tony gave a few slow squeezes of his balls sending quakes through him in the aftermath. He looked down when Tony let him go and crawled back over him to kiss him. Loki could taste himself on his lovers lips and oddly… didn’t find it disgusting.

“How was that?”

“... it was wonderful.” the words coming out of his mouth like molas, “I do not see how that could have been enjoyable for you.”

“You’ve never given pleasure simply to give it?”

He didn’t meet Tony’s eyes, his silence an answer. Tony pressed a kiss to his lips, “Sometimes, being able to give my partner pleasure is enough for me. I like seeing you happy.”

“I.. I could do something for you.”

“Only if you wanted to.”

“I.. just don’t know what I would do.”

“Just think of me as you, if my body was your body, what would you do to your body?”

Loki's hand was hesitant as Tony laid back and Loki's hand graced along his chest, “I.. I don’t know. I’m sorry… I’m a boring lover.”

“Hey,” tony leaned up to kiss him, “Not boring, just new.” He guided Loki’s hand down toward his crotch.

“I’ve never done this to another man.” his voice was soft, his eyes glued to Tony, he was shorter than he’d anticipated Tony being, but considering his stature, maybe not surprising. The head was a slightly deeper color than the rest of him. He didn’t keep himself groomed down there, and honestly Loki couldn’t care, it wasn’t like he did either. He ran his fingers down the shaft and then into the deep curls around the base. Tony’s sharp intake of breath drew his eye back up to his face. “That’s a start, the principal is the same as what you’d do to yourself.”

He licked his lips and gripped lightly and slowly started to stroke, Tony moaned, he found himself focusing on Tony’s face as his hand worked, and watching his lovers face of bliss was amazing.   
  
“L-Loki, y-you could be a little harder.”

He adjusted and tightened his fist around his lover and started stroking him faster. Maybe there was something to giving pleasure to another, simply to watch them turn to putty in your hands. He leaned down and started to nibble at Tony’s neck, adjusted his arm so he could still use his other hand. As he started to get more confident in his ministrations, he started to time his teeth and fingers with his strokes, bitting and pinching as he ran his thumb over the head of Tony’s head.

Tony arched into him, breath coming out in short puffs and he felt some sort of weird amusement at watching Tony struggle with what he was doing with his body, he would push against his lips or meet his hand down below. He nipped and sucked as his hand quickened and soon Tony was whining, “Lo-loki! Close, so close.”

He moved his lips and as gave a quick twist around the other’s cock he nipped at Tony’s nipple. The other gasped and with a whine he came. Loki was not sure what to do now that tony’s seed coated his hand, so it kind of hovered as Tony came down from his high.

“H-how was that?” he asked.

“Th-that was good.”

Loki watched as tony pulled his hand up to tony’s lips and then, when tony caught his eyes with his eyes, he was licking Loki’s fingers clean. Jesus, tony was a bad boy and he felt another blush creep up along his neck. He slowly leaned in and licked some of the seed from his fingers as Tony watched him, and he… didn’t mind the taste.

Tony forwent his hand in favor of his lips and they shared a sloppy kiss, “Umm, when I get my hands back, we are going to have so much fun.”

“I’m sorry… i’m boring.”

“Hey babe, you’re not boring okay? You’re still learning, both of us are, okay?" 

He nodded and settled in to lay against Tony.

“Was she the only one you’d ever had sex with?”

“I… yeah, we were together since we were 16, I had never kissed anyone but her.”

 “Did you two ever experiment?”

“No, not really.”

“So.. why men? I mean if your only history is with a woman, why did you start dating a guy?”

“I have always been attracted to men, but I was in a committed relationship and I,” he sighed, “When things fell apart I figured… I’d give it a chance.”

“I… You’re okay with dating me? I’ve been with quite a few people.” 

“That’s okay, the number of lovers you’ve had doesn’t change that I like you.”

Tony smiled at him and kissed him, “Just, I know I can be a little randy and excitable, so.. Don’t ever feel bad about telling me to back off okay?”

“Thanks Tony, I’ll remember, I… what we did today is all i’m okay with, i’m not ready for sex.”

“I under stand. I’m going to go clean up.”

“No, here, let me.”

Loki pushed Tony back to laying down and went to get a rag. He came back and gently cleaned his boyfriend up.

He paused as tony chuckled, “Babe, you can put a little elbow grease into it, i’m not going to break.”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“I know, you are the biggest help ever, but i’m not going to break, promise. I’m a pretty tough guy.”

“I don’t doubt your toughness, but I take care of and cherish the things and people I treasure.”

Tony’s accent took on a decidedly southern tilt, “Aw, you’re gonna make me blush somethin’ fierce.”

Loki blushed and got up to throw the rag into Tony’s clothes hamper and found his clothes. He near jumped when a pair of arms encircled his waist, “And I treasure you too.”

 “I.. I’m sorry, this is all… I’m happy being with you Tony, but being in a relationship again - it’s frightening.”

“I know, honestly I’m still sure i’m gonna fuck it up. So it's scary for me too.”

“If.. if you ever decide to end it -” he didn’t even get a chance to finish his sentence, as Tony interrupted, “Not a chance. I found someone worth being with.”

Loki smiled and kissed Tony, “Now who’s being the sweet one.” 

Tony gave a shrug and kissed him again, “I’ll let you get dressed, you have to leave soon don’t you?” 

Loki sighed heavily, “I do. I really enjoyed today.”

 “Me too. Thanks for coming over.”

“You’ll be back at the restaurant soon?” 

“Yeah, maybe mid week?”

“Good. I’m glad,” he leaned in for another kiss, and finally pulled away to finish dressing. He help Tony clean up around the apartment and they shared a final meal of leftover spaghetti and all along laughed. When he finally could pull himself away he stole several more kisses from his boyfriend before leaving back for his apartment.

 He had a few minutes to unwind and freshen up before his kids showed up.

“Papa!” Helena ran in to be scooped up by her father and gave her kisses, “Papa! Grandma let us bring home cookies!”

“Oh, that sounds wonderful, have you all eaten dinner?”

“Yes.” Jeorge entered in behind Helena at a more sedate pace, “We had dinner with Grandma and grandpa.”

“Well, then if you don’t have homework, maybe a few hours of games and cookies?”

“That sounds good.” Fenrir joined them along with Friga. He walked over to give her son a hug, “How was your friend?”

“He’s doing better. Thanks for doing this.”

“I adored every second.”

“I promise it won’t become a habit.”

“Darling, what good are grandparents if not to babysit every now and again, honestly we all had absolute fun this weekend.”

He relaxed and set his daughter down as she ran over to join her brothers in front of the tv and game system. 

Loki and Frigga stood there watching the kids before Frigga asked, “So, when will I get to meet this friend?”

Loki blushed, answering softly under his breath, “I… don’t know… he doesn’t like kids.”

“Have you seen him with kids?”

 “No… but he mentioned it when we first met..”

 “Well, you know your father was adamant he’d never want kids, and when I told him I was pregnant with Thor he practically fainted. And he was the suggested we adopt when we found out I couldn’t have another child.”

“I dunno..”

 He felt his mother put a hand to his shoulder, “If you're serious about being friends, then maybe you should just let him know. He might change his mind when he find out about yours.”

 “Maybe..” he bit back a yawn, “It’s late, I need to start getting them ready for bed.”

She nodded, and kissed his forehead, “Love you dear, call me if you need me. Now! You three, come kiss grandma goodbye!” he watched as the kids kissed his mother goodbye and then settled in to watch them play games. After a while he collected the cookies and went to put them away, when he came back and flopped on to the couch, Jeorge looked over to him and he noticed his son do a double take, “Papa… what happened to your neck?”

Loki blinked and instinctively tried to cover his neck, he hadn’t even realized that Tony had left hickes all over his neck,  “I.. uh had an allergic reaction.”

Jeorge gave a small frowned and then yawned, “Well I’m going to shower and then go to bed.”

Loki kissed his son, “Good night then, sleep well.”

He let Fenrir and Helena play another game before sending them both to bed. He had to tuck Helena in and was surprised when he walked in his boys rooms that they were already tucked away. He kissed them both and then went to bed himself. He slipped under his covers and let the weekend's events run through his head and he fell asleep with a smile on his lips. Life was pretty amazing, it could only keep getting better.


	4. Entre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the angst again, falling on my head like a tragedy. 
> 
> Seriously, lots of feels.

Just as suddenly everything was perfect, it was wrong. Both son’s were withdrawn, not speaking to him and when he tried to draw them out, to spend time with them they only pulled further away. By the time Tony was back at work he could barely find the time to spend time with his boyfriend, wanting to be with his kids. He couldn't even begin to keep track of how many dates and outings with tony he’d turned down just to spend time with his kids. Fenrir was getting into more fights at school, Jeorge spent his time with his books, and Helena she soon picked up on the tension in the house and had mood swings ranging from inexplicable sadness to easily provoked anger. 

Loki was falling apart. He felt like a failure again, depressed and guilty. If he hadn’t taken that weekend with Tony none of this would have happened. He leaned against the stove dinner all but ready behind him as he stared at his phone, it wasn’t fair to Tony to keep leading him on like this. He drew in a deep breath and went to star dialing when the front door burst open.    
  
“Papa! Come quick! It’s Helena and Fenrir!” 

Loki blinked and closed his phone slipping it into his pocket, “What?”    
  
“Helena, she’s… mad… and Fenrir’s only making it worse!” 

He just sighed in resignation and followed his youngest son out the door. He could hear her screaming about how much she hated her brother, about how she wished he would just go away. It ate at his every fiber to hear those words coming from one of his children. He took off running with Jeorge to go after the two. The two were running, Helena running down the complex and around another building, his eldest following behind her. When he caught up, he watched in some horror as his youngest fought with all her might, kicking, screaming, scratching and punching. 

“Fen.. Fen let her go.” Jeorge cautioned behind their father.

As Fenrir wince at getting struck by one of Helena’s fists he let her go. She scrambled to get away only to be scooped up by Loki. She soothed her and soon her struggling stopped and she dissolved into tears. 

“Come on, everyone home.” he carried his daughter back towards their apartment, he heard Jeorge talk to Fenrir but paid little mind to it, exhaustion eating at him. When they came back to the apartment the smoke alarm was going off. He put down his daughter on the steps and looked to his boys, “Stay here!” 

He rushed in to find some of the food had boiled over. He turned everything off and went back outside to let the apartment air out, “Just give it a few moments, everything will clear out soon.” He ran a hand across his forehead and pulled out his phone and called into the restaurant. 

Tony picked up, “Hello?”

“To-tony. Hi.. I uh… I’m not going to make it in tonight.” 

There was a moment when he could hear Tony’s voice shift to one of concern, “Hey, you okay?” 

“N… y-yes. Just need the night off…” he coughed a little. And suddenly Tony’s voice shifted again, “Of course, I’ll find someone to cover your shift, have a pleasant evening.” 

Loki sighed as tony hung up abruptly and as the alarm finally stopped blaring in the background, “Okay, everyone inside, Fenrir, Jeorge, open the windows for me please? Helena, darling, go take a bath, you’ll feel better.” 

She wordlessly got up and headed inside. The boys just behind her. The main area smelled of smoke and there was some lingering coughs as the house finally began to air out. He threw out what was on the stove and tried to find something else to make. As he opened his pantry and scanned, there was little there. He thumped his forehead against the wall and picked up his phone, he quickly texted tony, ‘ _ I’m sorry..” _ Then he called for pizza. When he hung up, there was no response from Tony. He rubbed his chest and tried to hold in the urge to cry. 

Loki needed to figure out what was going on. He moved to find his sons, Fenrir in his room, door shut and Jeorge on the couch doing homework. He sat down beside the boy, “Jeorge… what’s going on?” 

Jeorge shrugged, “What do you mean?” 

“Darling, you haven’t spoke to me in weeks.” 

“... don’t have anything to say.” 

He ran his hands through his hair, “Jeorge, its.. It’s fine if you want to be mad at me, I-I know things haven’t been easy. But, you and your brother are tearing your sister apart with whatever is going on.” 

“It’s not my fault! She started the whole thing.” 

“A-are you mad because you want to see your mother? Is that why you’re upset?” 

“Why would I want to see her?” Jeorge asked frowning, “She left us for drugs, I don’t care if she dies and I never see her again!” His arms crossed and grumbled, “Who needs a mom anyway?”

“Jeorge, why? Why are you so angry with me?” 

Green eyes turned determinedly away from him. “Jeorge! Please!” 

“I don’t want another mom!” he was up and in his room before loki had a chance to comprehend what his son has screamed. He got up to try and start cleaning pots from the burned food when suddenly Fenrir was out screaming at him, about how he shouldn’t have yelled at Jeorge, and then Helena was out of her bath and slammed her door as she bolted straight to her bedroom.  He tried. God as his witness he was trying, but he couldn’t take it anymore and he did the one thing he swore he’d never do. Yell. “Go to your room!” 

“Fine! I hate you and don’t want to see you anyways!” was Fenrir’s response as he turned heel and went into his and Jeorge’s bedroom with another door slammed. 

He slid to the floor and hid his face against his knees holding back sobs. He was a terrible father, a terrible boyfriend, a terrible person. She stayed that way frozen in his own private little hell until the doorbell rang. He jumped, he’d forgotten about the pizza. 

He got up and fetched his tip money to pay. When he turned around he half expected to find his kids tentatively peeking out for food, but nothing, silence. Loki opened the door to Helena’s room but his daughter was already asleep, her face still red from crying. He let her sleep, kissing her forehead before going to his sons room, “Pizza is here.” 

Jeorge’s response was muffled, “I’m not hungry.” 

“Me either.” 

“Okay.. It’ll be in the fridge if you get hungry later.” he closed the door and went to put the food away. He wandered around the house like a ghost. It was too quiet. He went to check on them near their bed time and found them all tucked into bed asleep. He decided to turn in early and regardless of how early he fell asleep, he didn’t sleep well at all. 

He was up on time the next morning to get his children up and to school, it was still awkward and he could tell everyone was tired. He got their lunches packed and walk everyone to the bus stop, he kissed them all with a small smile, “Alright, I’ll see you all tonight, I love you.” 

Helena nodded and got on the bus wordlessly, as did Fenrir, Jeorge just waved with a faint, “Bye.”

He watched the bus pull away and sighed, he went back to his apartment to clean up and nap, and around lunch went out to check the mail. As he was sorting through the bills on his way back to to his apartment, he heard a car approach, it wasn’t until he heard the engine getting closer and faster he thought anything of it. He tried to get out of the way, but it was too late. Pain exploded across his body and then darkness.

* * *

 

All he could remember was light, voices, vague feelings, and then nothing. Darkness. When he finally came too, he groaned and rubbed his neck, “Ow…” he looked around and frowned, a hospital. “H-Hello?” 

He tried to sit up and groaned, “Oh fuck… that hurts.” 

Apparently someone heard him and a nurse poked her head in with a smile, “Mr, Ruser, You’re awake, how are you feeling.” 

“Confused.. In pain.” 

“All natural. You were hit by car, do you remember?” 

“A car? No.. I-maybe? I … was.. Checking the mail… and then… pain.” 

“One of your neighbors called it, a hit and run, yesterday. But I’ll go get the doctor okay?” 

He nodded, “Thanks.” 

“Lay still for now.” 

He nodded as she left and frowned when he looked over and found a note by his bed. He picked it up and read it. 

_ ‘We’re really sorry we’ve been so mean. We shouldn’t have yelled at you. If you want another wife, I’m sure we’ll figure it out. It was wrong of us to be mad because you were happy. I love you Papa. - Jeorge.”  _

He sighed and rubbed his forehead, “Another wife? Oh what has gotten into them?” 

He didn’t have to wait long as the doctor walked in and explained to him his injuries, after another examination the doctor nodded, “I’ll send you home with some pain meds, I’m sure your ribs will be sore for a while. You’ll want to avoid anything strenuous and keep the area iced. If you have pain for longer than two weeks, call me.”    
  
Loki nodded, “Thank you. I… uh… was my cell phone on my person when I came in?” 

“Oh! I believe so, I’ll have the nurse fetch your belongings.” 

“Thank you.” he nodded and laid back with a sigh. When the nurse came back with his stuff she had him fill out out his discharge paperwork. As he did he called his mother. 

“Hello? Loki?”

“Mom? Mom, where are the kids?”

“They’re safe, I sent them to school this morning.” 

“Oh… thank you. I… I need to be taken home, do you mind picking me up?” 

“Of course not dear! I was out running some errands, I’ll be buy in a jiff.” 

He nodded, “thank you.” He finished his paperwork and waited. 

When his mother arrived and he was in her car, he was bequeathed food and water, “thank you mother.” 

“Of course, how are you feeling?” 

“Tired… and sore.” 

“I can only imagine, the kids will be so glad to see you.” 

He didn’t say anything other than nod, eating mechanically. He was dreaded going home, the fighting, the yelling, he felt like everything was coming apart at the seams and he wanted to cry. Once they were home his mother got him tucked into bed for rest after his pain meds were taken. As he got comfortable he noticed his land line had a message. He hesitantly reached over to press play,  _ “Hi. Perhaps you forgot, but you DID have work today. Call me. _ ”

He winced and rubbed his forehead, Of course no one had thought to call his place of work. He grabbed his cell phone and called tony. 

“Hello?”

“...h-hi… tony?”

“Where were you last night? You didn’t call or anything!?” He could hear it in Tony’s voice the other was restraining his anger. 

“I…” he sighed, “I’m sorry.” 

His boyfriend sighed as well, frustration leaking into the sound, “Yeah, just don’t let it happen again.” 

“I… I don’t think it will.” he curled up tighter.

“Look, Loki you’re not fired or anything, it was just a really stressful night last night.” 

“I’m sorry.. I… sorry.” it was the last straw and his voice cracked. As he tried not to sob Tony’s tone change, “Hey.. what’s wrong babe?” 

“... Everything!” 

“I..I could come over a few hours… we could talk about it.” 

He wiped his eyes, “I don’t know if I can.” 

“What? Talk?” 

“Do anything. I’m so tired and I hurt so much.” 

“Come on babe, talk to me, I haven’t heard anything from you for days - weeks even. I’m worried about you.” 

“.. got hit by a car… yesterday.” 

Loki winced at Tony’s surprised exclamation, “WHAT? Jesus, why the hell - why didn't you lead with that instead of letting me chew you out of something that wasn’t your fault! Jesus Loki! Babe!”

He sobbed again, “I’m sorry!” 

“No-Loki, stop… stop apologizing for things that -” Tony stopped himself, “Just, are you okay? Are you in the hospital? Do you need me to come over?”

“I.. I just got back home, they kept me sedated, that’s why I didn’t call.” he managed out between sobs, “was a hit and run, don’t know who.. Happened right outside the apartment.” 

“Babe… shh, shh. It's okay. Hey, let me come over yeah? Let me take care of you this time?” 

He drew in a breath to calm down, “I.. Let me see. I need to talk to my mom.” 

“Okay. Sure.. call me okay?”

“I will… sorry again.” 

“Hey, it’s okay babe. Okay? And I’m sorry I blew up on you.” 

“... I deserved it.” 

“No. No you didn’t Loki.” 

He wiped his eyes and sniffled, “I’ll call you back, promise.”

“Okay. Hey, I miss you.” 

That got almost got him crying again, “I miss you too, so much!” 

“Talk to you soon babe.” 

Loki got control of himself and went to find his mother. 

“Loki! You should be in bed!” 

“I know, I needed to talk to you.” 

He let his mother lead him to the couch and sat him down, “what is it dear?”

“My… friend, he… he wants to come take care of me.” 

“Oh, well… how kind of him, do you want me to go?” 

“I don’t know, I can’t even think right now.” 

“Well, what do you think is right?” 

“I..I want to see him, but.. I need to see the kids tonight and I can’t.. I can’t let them meet.” 

“Why not?”

‘I just… can’t.” 

“Darling, if you’re serious about him, you can’t keep the two parts of your life separate forever.” 

“It… now isn’t the right time.” 

“Okay.. if that’s what you want.” 

“Tonight I’ll spend time with the kids, I’ll invite him over tomorrow.” 

“Perfect, then back to bed with you and I’ll make a meatloaf tonight, Everyone still likes meat loaf right?”

“Yeah.. that would be perfect mom.” 

“Now, back to bed with you.” 

He nodded and headed back to his room and called Tony back. 

“Hey.”

“Hi.. t-tomorrow, can you come over tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course, anything you want me to bring?” 

“J-just you.. I just need you.” 

“I’ll be there, say about 9? Text me your address?” 

“Perfect. Thank you… I.. I can’t wait to see you.” 

“Of course babe, and you can call me anytime, I’ll be there okay? You know that right?” 

“I’m starting to remember. Thank you Tony, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow,” Tony promised him before hanging up, Loki managed to shoot off his address in a text before he succumbed to sleep. And it wasn’t until something jumping on his bed got him to wake. He came face to face with three very worried and very tired children.    
  
“Papa!” 

“Hey, how was school?”

He grunted as he was being hugged by all three children, “Shh, my loves, I am alright. I promise. And I think grandma made dinner for us tonight.”    


“I’m sorry, papa. We were really out of line the other day.” 

“Oh Jeorge.. It’s okay. I love you, I love you all, okay? We’re family, we’ll get through this all.” 

He held them all together and just basked in the moment. He found himself kissing each of them repeatedly and they stayed that way for several minutes before Frigga popped in, “Dinners ready my dears.” 

It took some convincing, but soon the whole family was ushered to the dinner table to eat. Frigga stayed with them long enough to help clean the kitchen with Fenrir. Loki tried to help get lunches together, which only resulted in him being chased from the kitchen by his sons. 

“We’ve got this papa,” Jeorge offered and worked on getting things together. He tried to then do laundry which resulted in more chastising from his sons, “Papa!” 

“I can do laundry.” 

“No, you need rest papa, we’ve got this. Promise.” Fenrir guided his father back to the couch. Loki sighed and waited, Fenrir took his time but Jeorge finished with the lunches and came to sit with him. Jeorge leaned against him and hugged him, he ran his fingers through Jeorge’s hair and basked in the peace, “Jeorge… You… in that letter you wrote me, you.. You said something about another wife?”

His son looked down at his hands, “We’re not dumb dad… we know what hickeys are.” 

Loki blushed, “What?”

“A few weeks ago, remember? I saw marks on your neck and you said it was an allergic reaction? Papa, I’m 11, I know what a hickey is.” 

His mouth moved for a moment not sure what to say, “Jeorge, why didn’t you say something? Is that why you and Fenrir were so angry with me?” 

Jeorge nodded, “... You hid it. You wouldn’t tell us.” 

Loki let out a deep breath, and before he could say anything else, Jeorge added, “Mom did that, hide things from us.. And then.. But the time we knew what was going on all we could do was watch her walk away.”

“Oh Jeorge... “ he rubbed his neck, “I didn’t tell you because… because I want to make sure that this person is.. Is someone that won’t ever hurt you like your mother did. I wanted to be sure they wanted to be apart of our family, once I was sure, I would have told you.”

“O-okay, we’re sorry. We shouldn’t have been so jealous, we’ve finally gotten use to this is all. It's hard to think we might have to share you with someone else. Is… is she nice?” 

“Jeorge, no matter what, no matter what happens, you are your siblings will always be the most important thing to me.” Loki kissed his son’s forehead, “Okay? Don’t worry.” 

His son nodded and offered a shy smile and then added, “Still doesn’t mean we’re letting you get up and do work.” 

Loki chuckled, “Alright.. I promise Jeorge.. I promise to tell you about who I’m seeing when I figure out if they want to be apart of our family.” 

“Okay papa… now go to bed, Fenrir and I can take care of everything. Okay?”

He sighed, “Alright. Thank you.. Thank you both.”

Fenrir offered a small smile and Loki got up to go back to bed, as he got situated Helena came in with a book, “Papa… can.. Can you read to me?” 

He blinked and nodded, “Of course darling, I would like that a lot.” He patted the spot beside him and she climbed into bed with him. With a kiss to her head, he opened the book. Loki started to read and after a few pages he fell asleep. 

* * *

 

The next morning he woke to the sound of his television on. He blinked and slowly stood and wandered out to the living room. He blinked, “T-tony?” 

His boyfriend turned around, “Oh hey, finally woke up huh?” 

“H-how did you get in here?” 

“The door was unlocked, I figured you’d unlocked it earlier and then just fell back asleep.” 

“No.. I fell asleep last night while reading and….” his eyes widened in sudden panic and he bolted down the hall throwing open doors, when he didn’t see his kids he freaked out. Tony placed a hand on his shoulder, “Loki? Loki whats wrong?” 

He pushed past his boyfriend to call his mother, when he heard the phone call connect he was instantly talking, “Where are they? Are they with you?” 

“Who dear? Are you talking about the kids?” 

“Yes!” 

“I imagine they’re at school.”

“B-But I didn’t take them to the bus! The door was unlocked! What if-”

“Loki, darling calm down, Fenrir is 14 he is more than capable of getting up and seeing himself to the buss on his own, as is Jeorge. They are also capable of getting their sister up and out the door as well. And if none of them have keys, it would be hard for them to lock up after themselves. Try calling their schools first before you hyperventilate.” 

He sat down on the couch to breath and calm down. Tony sat down beside him, “I’m sure they’re fine.” hands found his shoulders and started to massage. 

Loki turned and hugged Tony close and basked in the feeling of calmness, “everything's okay babe. It’s okay.” 

“No… no everything's a mess.” 

Tony sat back and pulled Loki against him letting his head tuck up under his chin, “Talk to me, please, I want to help.” 

Loki took a few more deep breaths, “I… just.. Let me make a few more phone calls and then we can talk? Okay?” 

Tony nodded but kept rubbing his back as he dialed the schools, each confirmation of his children's attendance in school sent a wave of relaxation through him. When he closed his phone he sagged into Tony’s chest. Tony stayed still, simply rubbing his back. 

“I.. Tony I’m sorry. I-if you want to go, I-I’ll understand.” 

“I’m here for you babe. I came here to take care of you, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“I’m a mess.” 

“Well.. I won’t disagree with you, but I want to be with you.” 

He sat up so he could breath a little better against the bruised ribs, “Why?” 

“Because.. Because I really do care about you. I enjoy your company, I like your jokes and you get mine….” Loki watched the brunette struggled to put his feelings into words. 

He nibbled on his lips and looked at his fingers in his lips, “Tony… how… how do you feel about kids?”

Tony pulled in a breath and let it out in a huff, “Well… I’ll admit I've never been super comfortable around them, but… It’s not that I don’t like them. My cousins have kids, and I love those kids. And maybe it’s because they’re family you know? I dunno.. Just a stranger’s kid? I have a hard time with them.” 

Loki rubbed his face, and wiped his eyes. Tony touched his hand, “That’s.. A problem for you isn’t it?”

“A.. a little, yes. Tony I-... What i mean is that I ….”

“Have kids?”

“I… yes… you knew?” 

“Well I had suspensions, The spastic behavior, not wanting me to come over, a marriage that lasted for a long time? I mean… I just.. Figured.” 

“Why didn’t you ask me!?”

“Because.. I didn’t want to push it, if you wanted to tell me I figured you would. I wanted you to trust me enough to do that.” 

Loki groaned, “I am the worst everything… to everyone.”

“Loki.. no!” Loki pushed from Tony’s grasp to walk to his room and flop into his bed. Instantly regretting the movement as his ribs protesting. He moaned with a sob.

“Loki!” Tony was in his doorway, “Babe are you okay?” 

“I just… shouldn’t have done that.” 

“What do you want? Need? A drink? Food? A heating pad? A massage?”

“I want everything to be okay again!” he sobbed into his pillow. 

Tony’s hand hesitantly touched his arm and when Loki moved his head to focus on the hand, he found Tony kneeling down beside the bed, “Babe… what can I do? Please, let me help? Anything you need… I’ll do anything.” 

He sniffled, “Tony, do you want kids?” 

He tried not to cry, but everything was so terrible and for a moment it seemed like he’d lose Tony too, he watched the man have an inner monologue and when Tony opened his mouth he was sure, so sure as to what the answer would be.    
  
“...As long I don’t have to carry them, I don’t think I have the hips for it.” 

He wiped his cheek on his pillow, “What?”

“Yes… The answer is yes, If you would have me, I would like to try.” 

Loki stared at him and rolled over enough so he could hold out his arms to Tony. Tony slipped into his embrace and hugged him closed, “Shh, babe. It’s okay… I’m here okay? I’m here.” Tony held Loki while he cried, fat, ugly tears. He tried not to get snot on Tony’s shirt but when he finally pulled away, feeling less like a soda bottle ready to explode he laughed weakly, “I got your shirt all wet.” 

“I can wash it.” Tony wiped his tears with a small smile. Loki nearly started crying again, he took a deep breath to calm down and scrubbed his eyes, “If… if you would like to meet them… I.. would you like to stay for dinner tonight?” 

“Yeah, Sure, I can do that.” he leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss.

“There.. There’s three of them, Fenrir, Jeorge and Helena.” 

“You’ve got a full house huh?” he moved to sit down beside Loki in the bed and pulled his boyfriend against his chest, “How old are they?” 

Loki pulled away for a moment to pull a photo album from under his nightstand and opened it up, he flipped past the first few pictures of him and Sigyn at their wedding to the back where there were pictures of his kids, “Well.. This is  Fenrir.. He’s 14.. He’ll be 15 at the end of the month. He’s a bit hard headed, head strong. And this.. This is Jeorge, He’s 11. His birthday is New Year's Day, he loves to read, Before.. Before everything he had quite the library in his room. Here.. Here is my baby girl Helena, She’s only 6, and she.. Well she loves basically anything.” 

Tony smiled at him, “They’re beautiful like their daddy, Now I wish I did have birthin hips.” 

Loki gave a weak laugh, “Oh, they’re … things have just been really hard. The divorce… it took everything, everything but them. And… And we’ve been trying to get through it, and I know they’re still upset… but… i try.. I try so hard. But I’m so tired too.” 

He was going to look like a puffer fish when all this was through, a very red, tired puffer fish. He wiped his eyes again. Tony pulled him close in a hug and kissed his forehead, “Babe, You’re not in this alone any more okay? I’ll help however I can. So… first things first then. You need to eat” 

He closed his album and sighed, “I suppose…” He put the album away and went to get up, and blinked when Tony caught him and pulled him back into bed, “Hey now, you still need rest you’re parking it right here. I’ll do the cooking.” 

“What.. No. I don’t eat in bed.” 

“Okay then. You’re parking it on the couch.” 

Loki groaned, “Tony I have too much to do to simply sit on the couch. Can I at least fold laundry?” 

“I’ll bring it to you after you eat.” 

“I’m not really all that hungry.” Once they got to the couch Loki turned and slipped his arms around Tony to hug him, “I really am the worst boyfriend ever.” 

“Hey, I forgive you okay, just talk to me next time, don’t bottle it all up.” Tony leaned up to kiss him, “And you need to eat something babe, a healing body needs fuel.” 

“...A sandwich would be nice.” 

Tony gave him another kiss and got him to sit down. As Tony busied himself in the kitchen, Loki turned to watch, “thank you. I just… I just didn’t know what to do. The boys they saw the hickeys from our last weekend.. And they were so upset with me.” 

“Hey, if now isn’t the right time I can meet them at a later date once you’ve had a chance to talk to them.” 

“I just… Jeorge said I was like their mother! Hiding things from them! I’m a terrible father.” 

“Hey.. stop beating yourself up. You did what you thought was right, and you’re gonna make mistakes we all do. You’re only human Lokes.” 

He sat there watching Tony moved through the kitchen and when Tony came over with a plate and a simple cold cut sandwich he offered a hesitant smile. Tony sat down beside him and kissed him softly, “I mean it babe, I love you, but you’ve got to stop beating yourself up, you keep trying to be wonder dad and spreading yourself too thin. You can’t do that, you’re gonna make yourself sick, it’s okay to ask for help. Okay?” 

Loki leaned into the hand at his cheek and nodded. Then sat up and looked at Tony, “Did you… did you just say that you love me?” 

Tony recounted his words and smiled bashfully, “I guess I did.” 

“Did… do you… do you really mean it?”

Tony nodded, “oh hell yeah.” 

Loki laughed, “You’re going to make me cry again.” 

“Cry all you want, I’m not going anywhere.” 

Loki felt himself smile and lean into kiss Tony, he met brown eyes and found himself feeling more hopeful than he had since this whole fiasco started, “thanks Tony.” 

“Anytime, now.. Eat.”

Loki sighed and looked down at the sandwich and slowly started to eat. Tony got up to start cleaning up in the kitchen and after a moment Loki noticed a smell, “Tony… what is that smell?”

“You’re going to have to be more specific about what you’re talking about.” 

“Are you cooking?” he turned to look over his shoulder.    


“Not actively, I have a roast going in your crock pot, I put it on this morning when you were sleeping.” 

Loki groaned and put aside the half eaten sandwich, “.. How much did I miss this morning?”

Tony brought over the laundry that Loki had asked after and as Loki folded so did Tony. They bickered briefly about Tony doing the laundry, but Loki was too exhausted to give him much fight, and together they folded laundry. Although Loki ending up dozing on the couch against Tony’s shoulder. He woke when he was moved to have his head lay in Tony’s lap.    


“Mm, Tony?”

“Shh babe, Rest.” 

“Lay down with me?” 

“Yeah.. sure.” there was a moment’s shuffle before Tony had him up in his arms and then safely deposited back in his bed. Tony climbed in after him once he kicked off his shoes. 

“Wake me up at 2:30?”

He felt tony shift and after a moment, “There, done. Now rest babe.” 

Loki nodded and fell asleep. 

* * *

 

A phone buzzing woke him and he blinked awake, “What?” 

He felt the body beside him rolled over to slap at the offending object and then grunt, “It’s 2:30.”

“Oh…” he groaned as he sat up and rolled to get out of bed.

“Easy babe.” Tony said from over his shoulder, “do you have any icy hot?” 

“Huh? Are you hurt?” 

“I was hit by Cupid.” he winked as Loki turned to face him and laughed as Loki rolled his eyes, “No I meant for you. I could give you a massage with the icy hot and that might help alleviate some pain and soreness?” 

“No.. I don’t.” 

“Why don’t I go grab you some? I can leave in a bit and give you time to be alone with your kids and explain that I’m coming over?” 

Loki blinked, “Yeah.. that would work. Thank you Tony.”

Tony smiled, “Of course. I’ll go get some prep done for dinner.” 

Loki followed after him and sat down to try and sort bills out. They worked in amiable silence for a bit before Loki asked, “Tony… do you think I could work doubles at the restaurant?” 

“Hum.. Yeah.. I could put in a good word with dad, it’d be the weekends.” 

Loki winced, “Only the weekends?”

“Yeah, no one wants to work, so we’re always a little short staffed.” 

“That's my only time for you and the kids…” 

“I know… I mean I can let you know if things change, I mean I know Mikel will be heading back to school soon, and Amy’s gonna be out on Maternity leave.” 

Loki sighed, rubbing his temples trying to think.

“You know I could lend you some money, if you needed it.” 

“What?! No! Absolutely not!”

“Hey, I’m cheaper than a bank, I don’t charge interest and don’t have a time restriction on when you pay me back, only that you do.” 

“No.. I’m- I’m not comfortable with that Tony.” 

“Okay, well the offer stands.” He heard tony go back into his room when he came back out had his keys in hand, “Hey.” Tony leaned in and kissed Loki, “Try not to worry yourself into an early grave while I’m gone?”

Loki gave a half hearted glare, “I make no promises. I’m.. I’m going to go shower and dress and wait for the kids at the bus stop.” 

Tony nodded and after one last kiss left the house. Loki took a quick shower and changed and headed outside a bottle of water in hand. 

He didn’t have to wait long. And when the kids got off the bus they rushed over, Helena didn’t immediately tackle him and gently wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him, “Hi darling, how was school?”

“Okay. Did you get to sleep in?” 

“Yes, I did. Thank you all for getting up and getting to school today.” 

“You’re welcome papa.” they all chorused. They took their time walking and when they walked in they were greeted by the smell of roast. Jeorge instantly looked offended at seeing the kitchen prepped for a cooked meal, “Papa! You were supposed to be resting!”

“I uh.. We are going to have a guest tonight. And that guest is making dinner.” 

“A guest?” Fenrir frowned.

“Yes, they are very important to me.” 

“Is it… that person?” Jeorge asked.

Helena just looked lost, “What?”

Loki nodded, “Yes, it is that person, his name is Tony. And, and he made us this lovely meal.” 

Helena instantly bounced, “Are we having mashed tatoes too?” 

“Maybe?” Loki laughed a little, “Honestly he didn’t share the menu with me.” 

“W-wait…” Jeorge blinked, Fenrir echoed him, “Him? As in he's a guy?”

Loki nodded, “Yes, now why don’t you all go put down your backpacks and work on homework until he gets here.” 

The boys just looked confused, and when Loki offered no other explanation they both slowly headed to their room. It was about half an hour later when a knock at the door came and Helena bolted out of her room to answer the door, “I’ve got it!” 

Loki stood and looked over his shoulder as his two boys joined them in the living room. Tony stepped in and smiled, “Hey everyone.” 

“Are you Mr. Tony?” 

“I am, you must be Helena.” 

Loki watched his daughter smile and nod and pull Tony further into the house, closing the door behind him. 

“Everyone,” he waved his boys over, “This is Tony. tony; Fenrir, Jeorge, and of course Helena.” 

“Hey! Nice to meet you all.” 

Loki stepped in to take the grocery bags from Loki, but Fenrir intercepted, “Papa.. Resting.”

“So.. do you need to finish cooking?” Jeorge asked.    
  
“I do.”  Tony nodded and moved to the kitchen.    
  
“Fenrir, Jeorge, why don’t you two go ahead and set the table?” 

The boys nodded and went to get things set up, Loki sat down and watched from the living room, he could tell Fenrir wasn’t happy. He listened to Tony talk idly from the kitchen as he finished cooking and soon enough a meal for his family was served. He walked over and rose his brows, “Tony this looks incredible.” 

“Thanks.” 

“What is it all?” Jeorge asked. 

“Well, lets see, we have a roast with gravy, carrots and mushrooms, Peas, mashed potatoes and some steamed veggies with an herb and garlic glaze.” 

Loki watched his children's’ nose curl up at the mention of vegetables. 

“Well, let's eat!” Loki sat down and Tony was the last to sit at the spare seat. Tony served everyone and soon the table quieted down as children explored the food with hesitation. After a moment Jeorge said, “These… are pretty good.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Tony is a chef.” Loki offered.

“Oh yeah? So like you cook for your job?” Fenrir asked poking at his food. He met Loki's gaze and stopped picking at the food.  


“I do. I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America..” 

“Did you travel to France?” Fenrir asked.

“No. I never got the chance to study in France.” 

“Oh, too bad. I bet its cool.” 

“Yeah, there are some pretty cool places here in New York.” 

“Maybe.. We just moved here. It’s kind of boring.” 

“Well, I could give your dad some tips, maybe he could take you there some time.” 

“Oh! That’d be cool!” Jeorge perked up. 

Tony nodded, “Then I’ll pass along my city-wise wisdom.” 

Fenrir stayed quiet, but Helena opened up instantly and even Jeorge didn’t seem quite so guarded, and by the end of dinner, Loki felt a little more optimistic that maybe this could work. After dinner the boys did the dishes with some help from Tony and then they all settled in for another routine night. Tony hanging around awkwardly in the background. 

Loki spotted him and touched his shoulder, “If you need to go, you can.” 

“No, I have the night off and I want to spend it with you.” 

Loki smiled, “Come on, come help me put together their lunches for tomorrow.”

Tony followed, and they worked together as the kids started to settle in for the night with baths and final preps for bed. Loki went to tuck them all in and then once the house was quiet he flopped on the couch, “Thanks for being here Tony, it went really well.” 

“You think? I think Fenrir hates me.” 

“Well.. he likes you more than I thought he would.” 

Tony laughed, “I’m enemy Number One, aren’t I?”

Loki sighed, “He’ll warm up to you in time.” 

“Yeah, we’ve got all the time in the world.” 

Loki looked over to him and touched his cheek, “... thank you Tony.” 

“Yeah, you want that massage?”

“Yes. I’ll probably fall asleep.” 

“That's the point babe.” 

Loki stood and led the way to the bedroom, he quickly disrobed and laid out on the bed. Tony straddled his hips and soon the cool gel was being worked into his shoulders.   
  
“If I hit a tender spot, let me know.” 

Loki gave a hum of acknowledgement and closed his eyes. 

“You really did a great job tonight, thank you for all of this.” 

“Of course babe.” 

“Tony..” he winced as Tony hit a knot, “I .. are you really okay with kids?” 

“Yeah. It’ll take some getting used to, but i’ll manage. I want to try. You’re worth it.” 

“I appreciate that, but I want you to want this.” 

“I want you. I want you more than anyone I’ve ever been with, and that means kids. Then I want to try… I’m just… petrified of being a father figure.” 

Loki chuckled, “Me too.” 

“Even after 14 years?” 

“Yes. I just feel like I make a mess of everything and I want so bad for everything to be perfect, I don’t want to mess up their lives.” 

“Sounds like you're doing it right then,” tony kissed his neck. 

“Being petrified all the time?” 

“Sure. No ones a perfect parent. As long as you love them and give them support, I think they’ll always be your number one fan.” 

Loki sighed and and groaned, “Oh.. Tony.. that’s a tender spot.” 

“Oh, sorry babe.” Tony’s touched lightened. Loki relaxed back into the touched and was in a haze until Tony moved down to his legs, “Hum? Oh.. Tony?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Did you want to stay the night?” 

“I.. if you’re comfortable with me being here in the morning, I would love to.” 

“I…” he took a deep breath and nodded, “I need help.” 

Tony leaned up and kissed his cheek, “Than by your side is where I’ll stay.” 

Loki smiled lazily, “There are some PJ's in the drawer by the window, and of course you can shower if you need to.” 

“Once I’m done with your legs I think I’ll just snuggle in with you.” 

“That sounds nice.” 

When Tony finally finished massaging him he was all put a half awake putty mound. He barely managed to get into boxers while Tony changed and when they settled in bed together, he and Tony shared some long kisses, the kind of kisses where you could simply lose yourself in the contact of the other, gentle, warm and sweet. He didn’t even remember falling asleep, but he had dreams of being held and of being safe. For the moment, that was enough for Loki. 


End file.
